President of Surrey Creep Catchers being sued for defamation

The president of the Surrey Creep Catchers, a group that claims to expose people they allege are child sexual predators, is being sued for defamation.

According to court documents, the plaintiff alleges that Ryan LaForge published “defamatory words to the effect of indicating that the Plaintiff was involved in a scheme to procure sexual relations with an under-aged female” on Facebook last month.

The Plaintiff said he has been “subjected to ridicule, hatred and contempt and has suffered damages to his reputation personally and in the way of his business.”

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The Plaintiff claimed LaForge published the Facebook post, which had been viewed more than 56,000 times, with “careless disregard as to whether it was true or not.”

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

The notice of civil claim came less than a month after B.C.’s privacy watchdog launched an investigation into Surrey Creep Catchers following a complaint from a member of the public.

Creep Catchers is a loose collection of organizations across Canada that claim to expose people they allege are child sexual predators by posing online as minors before meeting in person to film and berate their targets.

The group claims to have outed several people, including a Surrey RCMP officer and a Mission elementary school principal.

Law enforcement officials across Canada have repeatedly expressed concern about the groups, warning the public that confronting alleged child predators could put people in danger and compromise police investigations.

– With files from The Canadian Press